Mr. Bonar Law announced in the House on Wednesday that
railway fares would be raised on the morning of Friday next, August 6th, in accordance with the report of the Rates Advisory Committee. The increase in the so-called " workmen's fares '' for early morning trains would not, however, begin till Septem- ber 1st. Mr. Bonar Law pointed out that the fares must be raised to meet part of the deficit of £54,500,000 on the working of the railways, but that the increase was only a sixth on existing rates. A railway ticket for a twelve-mile journey costing Is. before the war will now cost Is. 9d. Season-tickets will cost half as much again as they did before the war. In declining to accede to the factitious outcry for the postponement of the increase till after the holidays, Mr. Bonar Law said that any further delay would compel the railways to charge still higher fares for the rest of the ensuing year. This should be obvious. We doubt whether any householder will be deprived of his intended holiday for lack of the few shillings' difference between the present and the revised fares.
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